January 09, 2010

Better Tools = Better Student [Article Link]

Lifehacker's Jason Fitzpatrick has created an excellent list of tools you may or may not be using with that laptop you own. He writes...

Despite the proliferation of laptops and netbooks, the vast majority
of students still use their computers like $500 typewriters. Stop
working so hard and be a better student by leveraging some clever
computer tools to your advantage.

Every semester I get a new wave of college freshman into my
classroom, most of them armed with laptops. For the last several
semesters, I have been informally tracking how they use their
computers. I always assumed that my students were using their computers
to their full potential to help them with school, research, and such,
but almost all of them were simply using their laptops as extremely
expensive typewriters and instant-messaging terminals.

What good is all the computing power of the pre-1960s world sitting
on your lap if you're not using it to make college life easier? The
following is a guide for students everywhere that want to spend less
time on the tedious stuff, and more time on the things like study and
research that actually produce results.